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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
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21 September 2021

Perception of Agricultural Industries on Developing a Quality Assurance Mechanism in
University Education

The majority of respondents perceive the quality of higher education mainly as developing innovative

and independent thinkers, knowledgeable and up-to-date staff, good links to industry, good university

facilities, library, career guidance, and quality teaching materials and methods of teaching used. These
findings embellish the findings of Gunawardena (2017), where he aroused the requirement of

educational institutions with the ability to discover new knowledge, to develop innovative applications
of these discoveries, and to transfer them into the marketplace through entrepreneurial activities.

Furthermore, he highlighted the need of focusing more on research and publications rather than

becoming only teaching universities.

According to the past literature, training/experience is a highly demanded factor in the job market
especially, in the private sector. Further, there is a high demand for additional competencies such as IT

skills, leadership qualities, analytical ability, teamwork and interpersonal relations along with a degree
(Ariyawansa, 2008). The present study identified the reasons for not hiring graduates including lack of

practical experience, lack of interview-facing skills and better performance of graduates from other

universities.

Conclusions

The findings of this study conclude that the employers in the Agricultural sector are not satisfied with
the existing quality assurance system in higher education. Furthermore, they show the requirement of

improving job knowledge, performance level, and accuracy and precision when performing in the job.

Lack of practical experience, lack of interview facing skills, and better performance of graduates from
other universities were highlighted as the main reasons for not recruiting graduates. The findings of

this study will be of great significance for policymakers in higher education to uplift the quality of the
Sri Lankan higher education system to produce quality graduates. The present study addressed the

employers' perception regarding graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture, the University of Ruhuna
only. Therefore, it will be beneficial to consider employers' perceptions regarding graduates in Sri

Lanka as a whole to develop a feasible quality assurance system in higher education.

References

Ariyawansa, R.G. (2008) Employability of Graduates of Sri Lankan Universities, Sri Lankan Journal

of Human Resource Management, 2(1).

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